So, Here’s the Kicker
This week’s, perhaps this year’s, winner for the “head-up-your-butt” award is (drum roll, please): the State of Oregon. The evidence to support this distinction is, simply put, overwhelming.
To wit, I received a check in the mail last Wednesday. My dubiously-named “kicker” (tax-refund) arrived because, as you may or may not know, Oregon’s state constitution requires that when there is at least a two percent difference between the final revenue forecast for the biennium and the actual end of the biennium revenue, the surplus must be returned to the taxpayers.
Yes, that’s right, when there’s a difference between the forecast (the amount of revenue that is predicted; calculated in an entirely suspect and error-prone process) and actual revenue, taxpayers get rewarded. They call the refund a “kicker.”
Like a kick in the head, I guess.
This stupid, stupid, insanely-stupid law (!), the only one of its kind in the nation, was created in 1979 and added to the constitution in 2000. And 2007 is now the eighth time Oregonians have received their precious “kicker.” This year, on August 31, when the final revenue forecast was released, there was determined to be a $1.071 billion (yes, billion with a “b”) budget surplus. So, back it all goes to the citizens: to each of us who paid Oregon income tax for 2006, we receive 18.62% of it back.
This means 1.6 million Oregonians will receive checks just as the holidays arrive, with refunds averaging $600. My check, which appeared entirely unexpectedly (since I’ve not been following the news up there), came to $1,066.34.
Huge. Sigh.
Now, don’t get me wrong…really, I’m not totally nuts. I reluctantly admit that I’m going to be cashing it. The deal is, I didn’t want this friggin’ thing in the first place!
Consider this. Oregon’s budget has been in disarray for years. Perhaps forever. The tax structure in the state is a joke with no punchline. (Oregon, along with Alaska, Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire are the five states with no sales tax.) I believe the anti-tax sentiment in the state to be a contagious, progressive, and ultimately-fatal disease. (Nine sales-tax initiatives have appeared on state ballots; all have been turned down. The most recent one, in 1993, was defeated by a 78 percent majority.) Although much of Bill Clinton’s (“It’s the economy, stupid”) Nineties were relatively stable and prosperous for Oregon (thereby masking the true and inevitable impact of 1990’s Measure 5), certainly since the turn of this century, there have been desperately-difficult financial times. State agencies have been in a state of constant crisis. To issue refund checks instead of creating a robust rainy-day fund (which does not exist), or, say, re-investing some of those dollars in the Oregon University System (or the Community Colleges, or the State Police, or the Oregon Health Plan, or the State Parks, the list goes on and on...), is complete and total folly.
I’m embarrassed for you, Oregon. For your lack of foresight and practicality. For your fiscally-irresponsible and tax-averse ways. For the selfishness and self-centeredness of your citizens.
This law, and this behavior, are a disgrace. You can do better.
Update on December 19, 2007:
Here’s something interesting: an article in today’s (December 18, 2007) Oregonian starts out…
A new group, the Revenue Restructuring Task Force, has been charged by the Legislature with studying Oregon’s tax system and submitting recommended policy changes to the 2009 Legislature.
The task force is the result of a bipartisan bill because many of us believe Oregon has the nation’s worst tax structure. And a few of us are convinced that if we don’t have the courage to radically change it soon, Oregon will be forever relegated to economic mediocrity.
For the full essay, by Scott Bruun (a Republican representing West Linn in the Oregon House), click here.
The Beaver Nation
Is it acceptable for a sixty-year-old like me to label another person “elderly?”
I wonder…
Anyway, whatever possessed me to make a trip to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, I’ll never know. But that’s what I did. I traveled over to San Rafael late today to pick up a few things from Trader Joe’s. It was very, very busy — and it took about 15 minutes to check out of the “express lane.”
Then, after I got back out into the parking lot, I started the car and proceeded to wait and wait just to back out of my spot. The traffic surrounding the store was totally ridiculous!
While looking in my rear view mirror to watch for an opening, I noticed an “elderly” guy (80ish, I’m guessing) exit a vehicle across the way. After he got out of his car, I could see that he glanced my way. Then it seemed as if he was staring at something in my direction.
It turned out he was. When there was a little break, and a car stopped for him so that he could safely cross, he walked directly over to me and tapped on the window.
When I rolled it down a notch (he looked harmless enough, but I was still suspicious of his motives), he immediately asked, “are you a Beaver?”
This is a rather strange question, of course. And, for many of you out there, I’m sure it could be a tad offensive. But, for me, given that I have an “Oregon State Beavers” license-plate frame and a “Member, OSU Alumni Association” sticker on the rear of my car, the inquiry was a pleasant surprise.
“Yes I am,” I answered. “I have two degrees from OSU and lived in Corvallis for twenty years.”
“Did you see the game last week?,” he asked.
“Yes I did! Was that amazing, or what?!” (OSU toppled the Number 2-ranked team in the country last Saturday, defeating California, at Berkeley, 31-28.)
We traded names, shook hands, and then continued on with our respective Saturday afternoons.
So I found another member of the Beaver Nation! (Or rather, he found me.) Right here in Marin!
In Memoriam
Martha Anne Dow
One of my best friends in the Oregon University System (OUS) has passed on. I knew Martha Anne Dow from the time I joined the OUS Chancellor’s Office staff in 1995. At that point she was the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) in Klamath Falls. When the incumbent president retired in 1998, Martha Anne was the natural and logical choice to take over the OIT reigns.
I was a huge fan and supporter of hers, as I found her to be one of the most decent individuals I had ever encountered in a higher education leadership role. Similarly, I knew her to be a true-blue fan and supporter of mine. I don’t have an actual count of how many times she was contacted during the last three and half years of my job-search process, but it was several. At one point a prospective employer disclosed, after doing reference-check phone calls on me, “whatever you do, don’t take Martha Anne off your reference list!”
Martha Anne, I’ll miss you. You left us way too soon.
PORTLAND, September 29, 2007 – Oregon University System chancellor, George Pernsteiner, announced with sadness this evening the passing of Dr. Martha Anne Dow, president of the Oregon Institute of Technology, who died today after a six-month battle with breast cancer. President of OIT since 1998, Dow is widely recognized for her leadership in advancing the mission of Oregon Tech and her passion for expanding access to higher education for Oregonians.
Governor Ted Kulongoski said, “Dr. Dow’s dedication to raising the aspirations of Oregon students to attend college reflected her unwavering belief in every person’s ability to grow, learn, and give back to their communities. She will remain for us always a heroine of educational advancement and a true Oregon treasure.”
Henry Lorenzen, president of the State Board of Higher Education, said, “Martha Anne was not only a highly talented and innovative educator, she was also an incredibly kind, thoughtful and genuine friend and colleague for all of us who had the honor of working with her. Our hearts are breaking for her family, friends, and for ourselves. Martha Anne has left an indelible mark on OIT, Klamath Falls, the state, and on the thousands of students she has taught, mentored and guided to a college degree in Oregon.”
Martha Anne Dow became the fifth president of OIT in May 1998, after serving there for six years as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Enrollment at Oregon Tech grew by almost 1,000 students during her tenure, and programs in engineering, computer science, applied health fields and geothermal power grew to meet regional and state needs. Dr. Dow worked tirelessly during the 2007 legislative session and previous sessions to gain new programs and support services for students, and to expand programs to meet current and anticipated workforce needs. Earlier this month, OIT’s new Center for Health Professions was named after Dr. Dow at the request of the major donors to the Center, Dick and Nancy Wendt.
